Shepherd's Notes: Galatians

I have used several of these NavPress Lifechange studies and enjoyed several aspects of them: 1) They discipline me to ask the standard questions - observing, interpreting and applying the Bible; and 2) They provide enough background information to be helpful, but not so much that it is overwhelming. For the first time I am using them in a group setting and I have found the discussion questions in the sidebars to be very stimulating and allow us to discuss real issues.

The Shepherd's Notes series on the Book of Galatians is a very well done and concise overview of Galatians. But it is more than an overview. It also provides:A Capsule Thought -- an overview of EACH section; Old Testament References; Historical Background; New Testament References; Personal Applications; and a Word Picture.All these elements together in a small 80+ pages book provide for a great study guide for either an individual or as a group (we used it for a study at our church). The guide is also filled with probing questions and thoughts.The only drawback may also be the book's strengths. While it provides lots of information in a small amount of space -- ideas like the word pictures can be interpreted in many ways. Sometimes this leads people to misinterpret Scripture (this is a small part of this book). Of course this is not a problem for a class lead by a knowledgeable teacher, but could be a problem for individual study. The application ideas are at a much higher discipleship level than many other similar type of study books. All in all, the book is a great study guide for booth individual and group study.